For Want Of A Prisoner Drop-Off
by randomideaguy
Summary: Based on the "For Want Of A Nail" idea, where the smallest change can have the biggest consequences - we see what would have happened if Rick had taken Daryl (and not Shane) on his little 18 Miles Out adventure to get rid of Randall.
1. Alpha

"What, you think you're going to kick us out. After we cleared out your barn, after _we_ saved your lives?" Shane raged, pacing angrily in front of Hershel who stood boldly in front of the angry former cop.

"I never asked for your 'help'. I never asked for any of this! Ever since you people have been on my farm it's been nothing but hell for me and my family. You're leaving, today." Hershel said, voice only slightly raised. Shane whipped his head around like an angry dog, getting in Hershel's face.

"And what, you think you're going to make us? We ain't leaving!" Shane raged. Hershel narrowed his eyes as a tense silence ensued. Everyone had gathered around now.

"Jimmy, go get my gun. It seems violence is the only thing these animals understand." Hershel said, still standing there. Shane's eyes went wild with rage, then. Before anyone could react, Hershel was on the ground a bloody mouth and a bruise forming.

"We ain't leavin'!" Shane raged, looking down at the old man who was already blacking out. Behind him, T-Dog, Dale, Glenn Lori, Carl, and Carol all had their mouths practically drop to the ground. Only Andrea seemed calm, her hand inching towards the gun in her holster.

"Daddy!" Came the cry of Maggie, who with her small form moved faster than Shane. The cop quickly found a knife buried a few inches into his chest, with an angry red head pushing him backwards. Blood began spilling down his shirt as he took a few steps backward, feeling very lightheaded.

"We ain't leavin'." He said, a little more weakly. There was a clicking sound right behind Maggie - Jimmy had the shotgun, leveled directly at the group. Dale stepped forward slightly.

"Hey, lets just calm down now. We can wait for Rick to come back and settle all of this." Dale said. Andrea's hand was a little too close to her own gun. Jimmy pointed it directly at her.

"Hey now! No sudden movements, or I'll blow you to pieces. Now, you heard Hershel. Leave!" Jimmy said. Shane swayed a little bit, seemingly out of it as more and more blood soaked his shirt. Glenn stepped toward Maggie.

"Ain't… leaving…" Shane said quietly before collapsing to the ground.

"Maggie…" Glenn said, quietly. She looked up from the prone form of Hershel with fire in her eyes.

"Your friend there is bleeding out. Best start looking for a doctor." Maggie said coldly. Glenn looked at her for a few moments before bowing his head and walking over to the collapsed Shane. With some help from the others they were able to get Shane back to the RV, where they laid him in the back right where Jim had been but a few weeks ago. Jimmy oversaw the swift packing of their camp and within thirty minutes the group was on the road again.

"That was a really stupid thing he did back there." Dale said to Andrea, who was sitting in the passenger seat next to him. She turned from where she was looking out at the setting sun.

"You're right, Hershel shouldn't have provoked Shane and tried to kick us off of the farm." She said, still looking out the window. Dale looked over at her, making that face he always made.

"I was talking about Shane. He's out of control." Dale said, before lowering his voice, "I'm worried that he's a danger to the group." Andrea simply rolled her eyes, standing up and walking away down the RV past the table where T-Dog, Glenn, Lori, and Carl were all sitting and talking quietly. Moving the curtain separating the back, she found Carol with an unconscious Shane.

"How's he doing?" Andrea asked. Carol looked up, hands bloody. Next to her was a bucket of water and a bloody knife. The older woman sighed.

"He's okay. I managed to stop the bleeding, but we're going to need antibiotics soon. Where's Rick and Daryl?" Carol asked, changing the conversation. Andrea had noticed how close Daryl and Carol been getting since Ed and Sophia's deaths. She shrugged.

"They still hadn't made it back from dropping Randall somewhere. Dale's taking us to the highway where we lost Sophia. Hopefully they'll check there." Andrea said. Carol looked back down at Shane quietly. Andrea quickly realized her mistake.

"Oh, I'm sorry Carol… I didn't mean to-" Andrea began to apologize.

"It's fine. I'm over it." Carol said, turning to look Andrea directly in the face. Andrea looked a little dumbfounded.

"You're… over it?" Andrea said, deeply confused.

"Do you mind watching Shane for a bit?" Carol said, deflecting the subject. Andrea scratched her head.

"Uh, yeah… Sure." Andrea said, taking off her holster and setting it down on a nearby table. She knelt down next to Shane.

"Thanks!" Carol said, smiling as she grabbed the knife and stood up to leave the room. Andrea watched Carol leave, taking notice as Carol slipped the knife quietly into her waistband.

_What a weird woman_. Andrea thought, turning to look back at Shane who was quietly sleeping.

"What are we going to do now?" Andrea wondered aloud.

* * *

"Just a little bit further." The first man said, he was older with a light beard.

"Are you sure? We've been going hard all day." A second man complained, the youngest of the group with greasy short hair.

"Shut up and move." The third man said, he was in a biker jacket with a little longer hair. He brought up the rear as the first man cut through some foliage with his machete.

"No." The first man said, pulling apart some leaves and looking through the brush.

"What is it?" The second chimed in once again as the third pushed past him to look, too.

Before Rick, Daryl, and Randall was a large plantation, well known to them. But it was different from the last time they saw it.

It was full of zombies.


	2. Beta

"Hurry! Hurry!" Shane yelled as he ushered his group through the hole he had just cut in the chain link fence. Lori lumbered through first, steadying her very pregnant belly with a free hand. She was followed by Carl, then Shane himself, then T-Dog, Dale, Andrea, Carol, and Glenn who used a piece of wire to put the fence back together.

The entire group fell in behind Shane as he began a light jog across the outer perimeter of the Prison, working their way towards the main gate. As they ran, the many zombies in the yard moved towards the fence, pushing up against it in search of fresh meat.

Soon the group arrived at the main gate, whereupon Shane got a good look at the 'front yard' of the Prison. He looked carefully about - at the guard towards, at the fences.

"It's perfect... If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers." Shane said, turning to face the rag-tag group before him.

"How do we shut the gate?" Dale asked.

"I can go, I'm the fastest." Glenn offered. Dale gave him a sympathetic look, but no one in the group protested.

"Alright, get to it. Andrea, you've become a pretty good shot. You take that tower over there, pick them off. Stay careful, we don't have a lot of bullets to waste. The rest of you stay here and start picking them off. I'll take this tower and cover Glenn." Shane said, directing the group. Andrea took off, sprinting back around the fences to get to the other guard tower while Shane entered the closer one.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group lined up at the fence with guns pointed out into the yard. Glenn stood by the fence, stretching to limber himself up. Dale put an old wrinkled hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked. Glenn nodded quickly, clearly trying to not think too hard about being put into yet another life or death situation for the good of the group. With a tired nod, Dale opened the gate. Like lightning the young Asian man sprinted out into the yard, tackling one walker to the side and pushing another out of the way. Dale closed the gate behind him, bringing his rifle up to look into the yard. .

Glenn crossed the yard quickly enough, weaving in and out of walkers. He reached the gate, pulling it closed and working to lock it shut. A walker came close up behind him, reaching it's hands out for the tantalizing flesh of Glenn's shoulder.

It's head exploded in a mass of gore as a bullet from Andrea headshotted the walker from across the yard. Glenn turned to see the fallen zombie, giving a smiling thumbs up to the blonde sniper in the tower. She ignored him, shooting another zombie right past Glenn. A lot of them were closing in on him now, forcing him to run to the nearby guard tower and close the door behind him.

Soon Glenn was at the top of this tower, using his own gun as the group made quick work of the walkers in the yard. Soon the yard was empty and a smiling group of survivors entered, having claimed a safe place to stay for the night.

* * *

"What is it?" Randall asked, hunkered down in the bushes as Daryl ran back from the crashed helicopter he had been scouting.

"Sh!" Daryl said, crouching in the bushes with the other two men.

"Any survivors?" Rick whispered.

"Two dead, not sure about the other one." Daryl replied quickly. The group looked on at the crashed helicopter as a truck arrived, quickly letting four men out.

"Fan out. Save those rounds until you need 'em." One of them said, walking towards the wreckage as the other three took care of the zombies in the area. One, a black man with a bow, took aim and killed two walker's with a composite bow. Daryl looked on jealously.

The other, a Hispanic looking man, took down three walkers with a baseball bat - first crippling the legs of each and then delivering a crushing blow. Over at the wreckage, the man giving the orders found something.

"Got a breather. Tim!" The man said. Tim ran over to the man in the vest.

"Help me out here. Drag him out." The man said as Tim helped him pull a body out of the cockpit.

"He's saving them. We should show ourselves." Randall whispered to Rick and Daryl.

"Not yet." Rick said quietly. They continued to watch as the man in charge put a knife to the head of one, and then two of the helicopter members. They dragged one body back to the car - presumably the living member.

"Alright, let's roll out." The man in charge said. Rick began to stand up, when he heard something behind them. He reached for his machete, but the click of a gun right behind his head stopped his movement.

"Easy does it. Mine's a whole lot bigger than yours. Put the weapon down. Nice and easy. Let me see your hands." A calm and very familiar voice said from behind him. Rick, Daryl, and Randall all turned around slowly to see the terrifying visage of one Merle Dixon.

"Oh holy shit, my baby brother and Officer Friendly. Now, how's about a big old hug for your old pal Merle." Merle smiled.


	3. Gamma

"Bet you were wondering if I was real… probably hoping that I wasn't. Well, here I am." Merle said, standing quietly in front of the trio.

"You know, when they found me I was nearly bled out. Starving. Thinking to myself that a bullet might make a good last meal. All because of you, Officer Friendly." Merle finished his statement by reaching for Rick's shirt collar, but was quickly intercepted by Daryl placing himself between the two men.

"We looked for you, brother, but by the time we got back to that roof you had already disappeared. Rick tried to do right by you." Daryl explained, quickly. Randall watched quietly.

"Right by me? Ha!" Merle laughed, pulling the metal appendage off of his arm and showing the stump where his hand used to me.

"You're lucky I didn't put a bullet in your head the second I saw you, partner! Lucky the Governor said not to kill ya. But he didn't say anything about roughing you up!" Merle made a move towards Daryl and Rick again, but halted mid-blow by the sound of someone clearing his throat behind him. Randall looked over to the door to see the same man from the helicopter crash.

"Merle, go relieve Patrick at the back gate." The man said, cooly. Merle grunted, fixing his clothes and nodding.

"Yes Governor." He replied before quickly walking out of the room.

"I'm sorry about him. He's a little short-fused. But I'm sure you already knew that… Rick, was it? And the famous Daryl Dixon. I've heard a lot about you two." The man said. Randall was about to mention that he was there, too, when Rick spoke up.

"Why are we being held here?" Rick asked, straight-faced.

"Do you see any bars on the windows? You're free to leave any time." The Governor said.

"You've got us under guard, that sounds like being held prisoner to me." Rick replied.

"You're strangers, we don't know you. You can get your weapons back at the front gate." The Governor replied.

"Fine. Let's go." Rick said, turning to look at Randall and Daryl. The Governor held up his hand.

"Tomorrow. We don't open up the gates after dark. Too risky. You're welcome to stay the night, eat, rest up. In the morning we'll give you your weapons back, food, ammo, and keys to a car if you want it. Then you can leave. No hard feelings." The Governor said, before walking out the door.

"Can you believe this guy?" Randall piqued in immediately. He always did have a habit of talking too much. But he was good with a gun and had helped keep Rick and Daryl alive these past few months.

"He's got my brother working for him. I think we should stay." Daryl said, looking absentmindedly out the doorway.

"We don't know anything about this guy." Rick replied.

"Exactly. We don't know. This could be a safe place, somewhere to finally hunker down and stop running." Daryl said.

"I've still got to find my family." Rick said.

"It's been four months!" Randall replied incredulously. Rick gave him a dirty look, causing the young man to shut up.

"Look, all I'm saying is this might be a good place to for you to stay. You can't keep searching for them out on the road." Daryl replied.

* * *

"Go back, go back. Move!" Shane commanded, holding the group up as he turned the corner to see a large group of walkers approaching. His little 'strike team' of Andrea and Glenn moved backwards, reeling away from the horde. The group moved back, following arrows that Andrea had marked on the walls until they reached another corner.

"We're blocked! Go back!" Shane yelled as they came upon another group of zombies, blocking them in. He felt sweat pouring down his forehead as the group was funneled into the only other direction they could go. They ran down a hallway until they came to a door, clearly marked 'cafeteria' above it.

"Get in!" Shane yelled kicking the door open, he went in first quickly followed by Andrea and Glenn. Shane and Andrea held the door closed while Glenn went into the cafeteria, grabbing a table and dragging it over. They propped it up against the door, blocking it shut from the zombie horde on the other side.

"Oh my god, that was close." Andrea said, wiping some sweat from her forehead as she slumped down to the ground. Shane started to pace while Glenn stood their and caught his breath.

"Uh..." A voice from across the room said. All three of them - Shane, Andrea, and Glenn held up their guns simultaneously pointing them at a grated window behind which were five prisoners. Given their disheveled looks, they had been there for some time.

"Woah there, cowboy." One of them said, holding his hands up.

"Step out to where we can see you!" Shane yelled loudly, his gun pointed at them. Seeing no other option - they were outgunned, after all - the prisoners stepped out into the open. There was five of them - a Hispanic looking wiry fellow, two big black dudes, a short black man, and a scrawny white guy with a handle-bar mustache.

"Are you guys here to rescue us?" The handle-bar stache guy asked. Shane gave a short laugh, followed by five

**BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG**

gunshots rang out as the former cop attempted to gun down the five prisoners. One of them, the Hispanic guy, pulled out a gun of his own and he got off a shot before Shane put a bullet between his eyes. Glenn fell over from the gunshot, while Shane focused on the prisoners. Three dead, one wounded, and one had escaped and ran back into the kitchen. The wounded one, a big black man with fire in his eyes ran straight towards Shane, quickly dwarfing him with his height. Andrea attempted to bring up her gun, but didn't fire because she was afraid she would hit Shane.

"You asshole!" The black man said, hitting Shane right in the mouth. The cop took the hit, reacting quickly with a kick to the stomach that sent the black man back slightly. Shane pushed forward, punching the man in the face. The black guy grabbed Shane's shoulders and lifted him directly off the ground, flying into the wall behind him. Shane grunted as he hit his back and slid down the wall. Andrea pulled up her gun, while Glenn groaned in pain on the ground behind her.

"Don't!" Shane grunted as he jumped up and tackled the black man in the middle, sending him toppling to the ground. The man struggled, hands reaching up to choke Shane who sent a few good hits onto the black man's face. Once the black man was seeing red, Shane reached out his own hands to close around the other man's throats. After a whole minute of struggling, during which Shane gave a death glare to the dying man, the black man finally stop twitching. Shane sighed, looking up.

"One went into the kitchen." Andrea said, slightly perturbed. Shane nodded, catching his breathe and picking up his gun which had fallen nearby.

"Yup, check on Glenn." Shane replied, getting up and stalking over to the kitchen. Andrea could vaguely hear the sound of a grown man crying in the other room. Shaking her head, she walked over to Glenn, pulling up his shirt so she could see where the bullet struck. She smirked as she pulled the crushed piece of metal off of the bullet proof vest that Glenn had taken off of one of the Walker's outside.

"That one hurt." Glenn muttered as Andrea helped pull him up to his feet. In the other room, the sound of crying stopped with the abrupt sound of a neck snapping. Glenn and Andrea shared a brief look before Shane walked back into the room.

"Let's go." Shane said, walking over to the cafeteria door.


	4. Delta

"I think you should apologize to Hershel, he would be the perfect doctor." Lori said, staring at Shane from within her cell, hands on her hips.

"I told you Lori, I just can't." Shane deflected, rubbing his head once again. His hair was starting to grow back again, a small black bush on his head.

"And why is that? You've been dodging the idea of Hershel for weeks now. He's a good doctor, he saved Carl, and we know him. What am I missing here?" Lori posed, hands still on her hips with her baby belly jutting outwards.

"Look. I didn't want to tell you this, but a few weeks ago Glenn went on a run to check up on the farm. He said the place was packed with walkers. They must have been overrun sometime after we left." Shane said, putting his hands deep into his pockets. Lori gasped, shocked into silence for a few seconds while Shane looked at an empty spot of wall.

"Oh my god. Did they make it out?" Lori asked, slowly. Shane kept looking away.

"Glenn says some of their cars were missing, but he didn't see anyone." Shane replied, trailing off, "Look, I've got to go see about clearing up some other areas of this place. I want it to be safe - for our baby." Shane said, giving Lori a meaningful look. She returned it with a death glare, getting close to him.

"Look, Shane. I'm grateful for what you've done for our family, for this group. But I told you already. Whether this baby is yours or not, it is _not_ yours. Once Rick gets back we will raise this baby together." Lori said, looking him in the eye. Shane slammed his fist onto the wall next to her, causing her to start. Multiple people in the Cell Block turned to look at them.

"Damn it, Lori. Not all of us get to come back twice." Shane said, before stalking off towards the cell door where Carl held the keys. He motioned to T-Dog, who fell in line behind him.

"Open up, bud." Shane said.

"Are you and Mom fighting again?" Carl asked, looking up at Shane with those all-to-intelligent eyes. Shane opened his mouth, at a loss for words.

"Carl! Open that door for Shane, then come over here." Lori said, calling the boy across the room. Shane breathed a sigh of relief as he avoided another awkward conversation.

"I'm telling you, he's unhinged." Dale said, standing in the hallway next to Andrea who was leaning against a cell door. The blonde woman sighed, rubbing her eyes. She had a quick flash of Shane, looking that man in the eyes as he choked him to death.

"Maybe so, Dale. But he's kept us alive this long." Andrea offered back weakly.

"Rick would have been better." Dale said.

"Rick's not here." Glenn said bitterly as he walked past the two. He found a cell at the end of the hall, far from the others and settled down within it.

* * *

"Look - Randall, right? You seem like a reasonable fellow. We're looking to go out on a run, could use an extra hand. What do you think?" The Governor asked, looking down at the smaller young man. Randall seemed dumbstruck for a second, before nodding quickly. His group had been here for a week, and he was getting itchy for a little action. The Governor smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder and leading him to the armory.

"I was going to take Merle, but he's busy with his brother. I figured it would be good to let those two get reacquainted since their long separation." The Governor said, opening the armory with keys he produced from his pocket. Within, Randall's jaw dropped at the sight of a large collection of military weaponry. The Governor grabbed one off of the wall - an M-14. He pulled the stock back, handing it to Randall.

"Will this work for ya?" Governor asked.

"Just fine, yeah!" Randall said, grabbing the gun and slinging it around his shoulders. Suddenly a thought struck him.

"What are we going up against that I'm going to need this?" Randall asked. The Governor gave him a careful, calculating look.

"Well, one of the men from the crash survived. Told me where to find his camp. Said he and his men had barely escaped with their lives. This group, this military group, has been roaming around the countryside killing off civilians and biter alike. On his deathbed he told me where their camp was. Sounds like they have a lot of weaponry." The Governor explained, quietly leading Randall through the crowd of Woodbury residents towards the gate. Randall spotted Merle and Daryl talking on the wall, and Rick sitting on a lawn chair pouring over a few maps.

"So... you want to take them out? Take their stuff?" Randall asked. He didn't sound particularly worried about this. The Governor gave him another careful look.

"For the good of the community, Randall." The Governor replied. A small smile graced his face, while Randall grinned widely.

_Finally, some _real _action_. Randall thought. He had spent four months stuck with two goody little two shoes, and he had almost forgotten what this felt like. It was a rush.

To Randall, it was exciting.

* * *

"Tyreese!" A yell rang out in the forest. Large black man - Tyreese - turned around with worry in his eyes. Yells in the forest were never good, especially when it was the sound of your best friend's wife. He sprinted off in the direction of the sound, followed closely behind by his younger sister Sasha. With a single leap Tyreese cleared a bush, two bullets flying past him to greet the walkers on the other side.

"Hang on!" Tyreese yelled, bringing his mighty hammer forward to crush the skull of the nearest walker. He moved forward again, using his shoulder to knock two more into each other and forming a gap to run through. He was followed quickly by Sasha. They moved quickly, diving through foliage and walkers to where they heard screaming and the subtle sounds of slicing.

"Woah..." Tyreese said, stopping on the edge of the clearing where he had left Allen, Donna, and Ben. On the ground was at least twenty dead walker bodies, each detached from their heads. In the center of the camp was a black woman, clad in a green cloak and wielding a very sharp and very bloody looking katana. Behind her Donna was still screaming her head off, flanked by two very shocked men.

"Uh, hello... Thanks for helping out?" Sasha said awkwardly, stepping past Tyreese and towards this mysterious woman. The cloaked woman gave a slight smirk, turning to Sasha.

"You looked like you needed some help... Michonne." The woman, Michonne, introduced herself. Sasha smiled, happy to find another survivor after so long.

"I'm Sasha. This is Tyreese. I see you've already met Ben, Allen, and Donna." Sasha said, gesturing to the other family. Michonne nodded, but her eyes were where Tyreese and Sasha had come from.

"We need to move, more are coming." Michonne said, even as the first of the herd of walkers began peering through the bushes.

"You heard the lady! Let's move!" Tyreese yelled to the rest of the group.


	5. Epsilon

"Rick!" A familiar voice called out. The former sheriff turned around, watching as the Governor walked up to him. Rick was by the gate, getting ready to go out on a run once more. He had been out searching for his family for over a month, using Woodbury as a base. Hand sitting, lightly on his hip, Rick looked at the Governor.

"Yes." Rick said, clearly impatient to get out there and look. Now that he had found safety, his sole focus was on finding Lori and Carl.

"Let me go with you." The Governor said. Rick paused, taken aback.

"What?" Rick replied, squinting and leaning his head forward slightly. The Governor nodded, smiling.

"I want to go with you, help you find your family." The Governor replied.

"Don't you have a town to take care of?" Rick said. The Governor smiled, laughing a little.

"Oh, Milton and Martinez can handle the town for a few hours. Besides, I make a point to get to know everyone in Woodbury." The Governor replied.

"I'm sure you do." Rick said, looking down at his feet and thinking for a moment. He motioned to the gate.

"Well, come if you're comin', then." Rick replied. The Governor nodded, motioning behind him.

"Boys!" He simply said. Behind him Merle and Daryl came running over. Daryl had been helping Rick periodically with his runs, every day at first but progressively less and less as time wore on. The Dixon brothers both came armed, and Rick didn't seem to comment besides a nod to Daryl. The Governor looked to Martinez, who was on top of the gate.

"Open it up, Martinez." The Governor said.

"Yes, sir." Martinez replied, pulling the lever that opened the gate. Rick led the charge, moving towards the three walkers outside of the gate. He slammed a knife into the first one's forehead, while Daryl shot the second one with an arrow. Rick pulled his knife out of the first zombie and knifed the third one in the head, letting it fall quietly to the ground. Without a sound, he trudged off into the forest.

"How long has it been since you've seen your family?" The Governor asked, sometime later. Rick turned, looking the Governor over for a second before looking forward again.

"Five months, now. I last saw them on a farm, not too far from here actually." Rick replied, looking down at his feet. The Governor raised an eyebrow, interest peaked at the idea of another source of supplies.

"A farm, you say?" The Governor asked. Rick sighed.

"Yep. Went out on a... run with Daryl and Randall. Got cut off by a herd that kept us away for a few days. By the time we got back, the whole place had been overrun." Rick said, nodding in the direction of the edge of the treeline where there appeared to be a clearing.

"Oh my. You think they survived?" The Governor asked, not paying much attention to where they were going. Rick shook his head, an intense look on his face.

"I know they did." Rick said, pulling away some foliage to reveal a cabin in a clearing. There were three dead bodies visible, each with their head removed and a sign on them. The first said 'Liar', the second 'Adulterer', and the third 'Murderer'. This last one was propped up against the cabin door with a hole blown in his head.

"Wonder who these guys pissed off." Merle asked as he leaped over the railing of the cabin. Daryl was walking around the side of the cabin to get a good look at the surroundings. Rick didn't waste time, moving the dead body to the side and opening the door. He knocked on the open door, and then stood there. The Governor waited on the edge of the porch, having not even pulled his gun out all day.

"Let me go." The Governor said, stepping forward. Rick turned to look at him, quite confused for a moment before nodding. With a small smile on his face, the Governor stepped forward, pulling out his own gun.

"Are sure about this, Governor." Merle asked, quietly. The Governor didn't respond as he clicked on his flashlight and stepped into the house. There was few moments of quiet, followed by the sound of a window breaking. Rick started to run in, but collided with Merle's metal arm. They exchanged a tense look.

"That's Daryl breaking in through the back." Merle explained, before letting Rick walk in. After his eyes adjusted, he found the Governor standing and staring at a walker who was desperately trying to get at him, but was pinned behind a table. Upon seeing Rick come in, the Governor moved forward, holstering his gun and stabbing the woman walker quietly in the head.

"Doesn't look like your wife, now, does it." The Governor asked. Rick ignored him, walking past him to the next room. He started to open the door when Daryl suddenly appeared, holding a finger up.

"Watch it. There's heads all over the floor." Daryl explained, shining a light on the floor. In the corner a little light shone through from where Daryl had entered through the window. The two men moved in, finding and stabbing in the head each zombie head. Meanwhile, the Governor and Merle scoped through the house for any supplies. Outside, the sun was still fairly high in the air.

Yet another day had passed without a sight of Lori and Carl. Rick groaned, sitting on the nearby couch and putting his head in his hands. Daryl awkwardly stood there for a second before patting Rick quietly on the back.

"We'll find 'em." He said simply, before moving around the couch to the nearby fire place. Meanwhile, Merle re-entered the room with a shiny new addition.

"Look what I found!" Merle said, happily slamming a pack of six beers onto the table with a smile. The Governor came up behind him, closing the door and sitting on the lounge chair next to Rick. Merle quickly detached four of the beers from the plastic ring and tossed one to Governor, Daryl, and even Rick before sitting down with one of his own.

"You'd be surprised at the stuff you can still do with one hand." Merle said, popping the top of a can of beer.

"Yeah, like jerk yourself off?" Daryl replied, smiling as he sipped some of the foam coming out of the top of his drink. The Governor laughed, setting his own beer down next to him clearly unopened.

Rick simply stared at the table, working through things in his mind. After a bit the Governor turned to him and handed him an open can of beer.

"Talk to me, Rick." The Governor said simply. He looked genuinely interested, staring at Rick who sighed and looked up at him.

"I'm running out of places to look. I followed procedure, looking the proximity of the farm. But without a lead, I don't know which way to expand the search." Rick explained, taking a sip of his beer despite him. The Governor smiled at him.

"Do you ever consider they might be gone, Offi-cer?" Merle asked, tilting his head at Rick. Rick ignored him.

"Merle does make a point. It's been five months. They could be anywhere now. I would hate to see you wear yourself out." The Governor said. Daryl watched silently and Rick thought more to himself.

"I can't stop looking for them. When this whole thing started, I woke up in a hospital and somehow found my way back to them through all the chaos. That's got to mean something, right?" Rick replied, looking at the Governor as if for approval.

"I'm not much of a man for signs, Rick." The Governor said, finally taking a sip of his own beer. There was a haunted look in his eyes. Rick looked down at the table.

"So, you think I should stop looking? Give up hope?" Rick asked, seemingly unsure of himself.

"You were a cop, right Rick? When I see you, I see a man who wants to do the right thing. I see a man who wants to _help_ people. Yeah you lost your family, but you can't let that keep you from the rest of your life. I didn't. Woodbury wouldn't exist without me. Those people who wouldn't have found a safe place without Woodbury. And you might not have lasted a week without us finding you out there." The Governor explained, taking a quick sip of his beer. Rick seemed interested, watching him carefully.

"What do you want from me?" Rick finally asked, after a long silence. The Governor only smiled.


	6. Zeta

"Watch it now, partner! Just lay down the gun slowly!" A voice called from behind Tyreese. With a scowl the big black man laid his rifle down - not that it was much use in his hands in the first place.

"Does that even things out for ya?" The other black man - T-Dog - said as he motioned at Allen and Sasha. They begrudgingly lowered their weapons as well.

"Hey! You too!" Andrea said, motioning to Michonne who was still holding her sword up with that permanent scowl on her face. Michonne was the last to lower her weapon. The man behind Tyreese - Shane - moved around to the front. Tyreese could see fences in the distance past him. Shane scowled at the group before him.

"Alright now, I got one question and you'd best answer it carefully. Are any of you doctors?" Shane asked. There was a hint of tension, worry, perhaps even concern behind his voice. There was an awkward silence, before Donna stepped out from behind her husband.

"I am, sort of. I used to be a midwife." Donna said. Instantly a flurry of looks flew throughout the group of T-Dog, Shane, and Andrea.

"Look, we've been out on the road for a while. We don't need any trouble, we're just looking for shelter." Tyreese tried to explain calmly. The three before him didn't seem to be listening, but they also seemed a lot less hostile. Whispers were exchanged, during which Tyreese felt that he was secretly on trial.

"Alright..." Shane began, trailing off. He seemed new at this thing - talking to strangers, that is.

"We've got a place. And a pregnant woman. If you can help us, we'll take you guys in." Shane explained. Andrea nodded, giving a meaningful glance in Shane's direction. Donna put a hand over her heart.

"Ooohhh. A baby? Of course I'll help!" Donna said, seemingly forgetting that there was an array of guns pointed at her and more in awe over the idea of seeing a baby after such a long and harsh time on the road.

"Alright." Shane said, lowering his gun. He motioned to the whole group, letting Tyreese and crew pick up their guns but also moving behind them. This move was not lost on Michonne who gave a dirty look in Shane's direction. Andrea rolled her eyes at the gesture but didn't say anything.

"This way, guys." T-Dog said, leading the newbies towards the prison gate. Upon moving through the tree-line Shane gave a nod to Dale, who was keeping watch at the farthest out tower with his rifle. Dale quickly shuffled back inside, and within a few moments he was at the gate, opening it to let the group inside.

"Thank god you found new people. I was beginning to think we were the only people left out here!" Dale said half-jokingly as he let the group in. No one seemed to respond kindly, and in fact he got a few dirty looks. Dale shut his mouth and fell in solemnly behind the group.

"This is a nice place you got here." Tyreese said as he fell back slightly behind his group so that he could walk next to Shane. Shane gave him a dirty look for a moment, as if he was about to attack him, but then looked forward again, shoulders tense.

"Yep. It's ours. We spilled blood for it." Shane said quietly. Tyreese nodded, looking forward for a few seconds. The rest of the group was almost out of earshot. Shane turned to look at him.

"Look - this group of people is my family. And if you do anything, anything whatsoever to hurt, I **will **kill you. Got it?" Shane said, giving an intense look to Tyreese. Tyreese seemed shocked, at a loss of words for a few seconds even and stopped and stood in place in the courtyard.

"Sure thing. Your house, your rules." Tyreese admitted, jogging a bit to catch up to Shane.

"Beats being on the road, that's for sure." Tyreese offered as a joke. Shane didn't respond, simply grunting and leading him up the hill. The group made it to the top of the hill, put Shane ran forward when Dale began to open the door to the inside of the prison.

"Don't you open that door, Dale!" Shane yelled, running past the group. Dale paused, mostly out of fear of Shane, and turned to look at him confusedly.

"Why on earth not, Shane?" Dale asked, rifle slung over his shoulder. Tyreese and co formed up behind them, but noticeably kept their distance. Didn't want to piss off the new landlords.

"That's where we sleep, where Lori and Car sleep. We don't know these people." Shane stated, grabbing the keys from Dale and locking the door to their part of the prison.

"Well, where else are they going to sleep?" Dale asked, turning to fully face Shane. His heart was beating so fast. Shane nodded to the other side of the courtyard.

"But we haven't cleared that area." T-Dog offered. Shane nodded again, walking across the yard to the other door and motioning to Tyreese and co.

"Not yet. If these people want to live here, they can clear out their own space." Shane explained, one hand on his hip as he held the keys high up in the air.

"We came with you to get _away_ from the walkers, not get locked in a prison full of them!" Allen exclaimed angrily. Shane walked over, getting right in Allen's face.

"You want to go back out there?" Shane asked. There was a tense silence, before Shane roughly placed the keys in Allen's hands and stepped back, waving his hands at the door.

"Go ahead." Shane said. Tyreese and his group all looked at each other carefully.

"We don't know how many are in there." Tyreese said, even as Sasha and Michonne were walking over to the door with Allen. Dale scratched his head, looking at Andrea and T-Dog for support.

"I'll help you." Dale offered. Shane shook his head, walking over to a nearby bench and sitting down. _He_ clearly was not helping. Andrea sighed, stepping forward.

"Me too... Come on, let's do this." Andrea said, walking past Shane towards the door where Michonne, Sasha, Allen, and Tyreese were all now standing.

"Donna, Ben, stay out here." Allen said to his wife and son. They both nodded, awkwardly sitting on the bench with T-Dog and Shane.

Much later, the door to the prison opened with Tyreese and Allen coming first, carrying a limp Dale between them. They were followed quickly behind by Michonne, Sasha, and Andrea. Shane and the others stood up, walking over to them quickly. T-Dog stopped and gasped when he got close, seeing that Dale had a bleeding stump for a leg. Ben lost the contents of his stomach all over the concrete.

"What the hell happened in there?" T-Dog demanded, Shane pulled him away, grabbing the keys from Allen's pockets and putting them in T-Dog's hands.

"Go get Carol, she knows some first aid!" Shane said, wiping the grime off of the nearby bench and helping the two men place Dale on it. The old man was passed out, presumably from the shock. Though he had no special love for Dale, he was still part of the group and Shane felt the need to stand up for him. He approached Tyreese.

"He got bit. Did the only thing I could think of." Tyreese explained, looking down at his hands which were shaking and covered in blood. Andrea put a hand on Shane's shoulder, pushing him back gently and nodding.

"I saw the whole thing go down. Tyreese saved Dale." Andrea explained, and after some thought added on, "These are good people. They saved my life multiple times back there."

Shane nodded, sweating and seeming to zone out when Carol came running out of the other side of the prison. Shane looked at Donna, seeming to notice her again for the first time.

"Help him!" Shane said, though it came off as more of a command.

* * *

"What are you doing, kid?" Glenn asked, leaning against the prison door that led to Dale's room. Inside, Carl was busy cutting the pants leg off of one of the old man's pants. Carl looked up at Glenn innocently.

"Well, when he gets better he's not going to want to have one side of his pants dangling everywhere!" Carl explained. Glenn scoffed, turning to leave.

"He's not going to get better. He's going to die." Glen said, walking away.

"We're all going to die." Glenn muttered as he continued down the hallway.


	7. Eta

"Everyone, I want to thank you for coming here today. I've got an announcement for ya'll." The Governor told the group before him, hands clasped in his jacket. Standing slightly behind was Rick, dressed in a police uniform that had been scavenged some time ago. He looked uncomfortable in it, clean shaven and everything.

"My name is Rick Grimes. I was a police officer before... before all this. Now I know it's been a long time since you folk have dealt with police, and I know that this is a nice quiet town. But I'm asking you all to cooperate with me, just like you would with police back in the day." Rick explained, stepping forward with his hands on his hips. His Colt was glinting brightly in the sunlight, right there on his hip.

"This is another big step towards the world that was before, and I just wanted to introduce everyone to Rick in case he decides to visit you." The Governor said, shaking Rick's hand in front of everybody. This would have been the perfect time for a picture, if camera's were still functional. All the same, Milton was furiously writing in his notebook to record the event for the sake of history.

* * *

"You think he's okay?" Ben asked, quietly over the fire that the group had started in the middle of Block D of the Prison. Around the fire were the dimly lit faces of Tyreese, Michonne, Sasha, and his father Allen.

"Who the hell cares! They practically locked us in here." Allen complained, staring at the fire. Tyreese gave him a dirty look.

"Dale helped us! Helped you! We wouldn't be sitting here enjoying this fire if it weren't for him." Tyreese replied.

"And my wife would be sitting next to me right now if it weren't for him! I'm not sure I trust her being over there with that... that crazy guy! Did you see the way he looked at us in the forest?" Allen said, standing up. He was worried about his wife and he started pacing down the Cell Block again. Tyreese sighed.

"He's right, you know. The one with the shotgun - Shane, I think - looked just about ready to gun us down until Donna spoke up." Michonne said, staring at the fire.

"And I don't think his friends there would have stopped him." Sasha added in.

"We need to keep an eye on him." Michonne said, to which Sasha nodded. Tyreese shook his head.

"Look, I'm just glad to have a roof over our heads and an actual bed to sleep in... Even if it is in a prison." Tyreese said. A few in the group nodded in agreement.

* * *

"Is he up, yet?" Andrea asked, standing in the doorway of Dale's cell. The old man was chained to the bed (Shane's idea, of course), and Donna and Carol were laying next to him.

"Not yet. His eyes fluttered a bit earlier, I-" Carol began to explain, but stopped when Dale began muttering something. Everyone moved in closer.

"What's he saying?" Donna asked, leaning in. She screamed when Dale shot up like an arrow, hands flailing everywhere. Carol shoved Donna away, and Andrea was halfway to the bed with her knife out when they realized.

"Andrea!" Dale said, clearly not a walker but probably not fully awake yet. He fell back down on his bed, passing out again. The three women exchanged looks with each other. Donna began to sob a bit. Andrea felt bad for her.

"Donna, you can go back to your family now. I got it from here." Carol said, looking at Andrea who nodded.

"It's late. Let me walk you over there." Andrea said, motioning out of the cell with her head.

"Thank you." Carol mouthed as Andrea escorted Donna out of her cell.

Glenn was outside, sitting on one of the towers when Andrea found him. She took notice of the tears he wiped from his eyes - clearly visible in the light of the full moon - but didn't comment upon them. She sat down next to Glenn, leaning up against the smooth rock of the guard tower.

"Dale's awake, now. He seems to be fine." Andrea said. Glenn nodded, staring at his legs.

"What do you want?" Glenn asked, looking up at her. Andrea felt her mouth open slightly in shock.

"I'm sorry, what?" Andrea replied.

"No one talks to me unless they want something. What do you want me to do?" Glenn replied. There was clearly some hurt in his eyes. Andrea cleared her throat.

_I came out here to ask you to look for a prosthetic leg at the nearby clinic_. Andrea thought, but only briefly. She looked at Glenn carefully.

"I don't want anything. I just came out here to check on you." Andrea replied. Glenn looked down at his legs again, clearly feeling like an asshole as Andrea stood up and patted him awkwardly on the shoulder.

"Oh... well, thanks." He replied, watching her as she left.

"Shane." Andrea said as she walked past Lori's cell where he was just leaving. The redheaded woman in the cell looked very pregnant, and not too happy either. Shane exited the cell, rubbing his head and looking at Andrea.

"Glenn's out." Andrea explained. Shane looked dazed for a second, and then angry.

"He's out. I didn't phrase it as a _question_." Shane said, starting to walk past Andrea. Presumably to beat some sense into Glenn for 'disobeying' Shane. Andrea sighed.

"I'm in." Andrea said. Shane stopped, turning around and walking back to her. He seemed mildly concerned.

"But we need you back at the camp. We need someone reliable here in case those strangers do anything to hurt Lori. To hurt Carl." Shane said, almost pleading her.

"I figured Glenn could use a break. He's still got that bruise from where the prisoner shot him." Andrea paused, eyes going dark for a second as she remembered.

"Besides, with T-Dog, Glenn, and Carol I would say they are fine. Hell, Lori can take care of herself. She's gotten pretty good with a gun, too, Shane." Andrea continued. Shane stood there for a few seconds, clearly thinking. He looked down at the ground.

"Fine." Shane said, before looking up at Andrea, "We'll need to take Donna, so she can find what we need. And one of them... I don't want them at full strength here." Shane said, turning and walking back to his own secluded cell.


	8. Theta

"Watch where you point that thing." Michonne snarled as Shane fired his shotgun directly past her to take out a walker. He grunted in reply while she made a twirling motion to decapitate two more. Shane motioned to the aisles before them. Michonne didn't respond, simply moving forward to 'her side' and killing the three walkers there. The sound of slicing on the other aisle suggested that Shane had found a few of his own.

"Clear?" Shane asked. Michonne rolled her eyes.

"Clear." She responded, looking around. The clinic had indeed been cleared - every room. Behind her, Donna stuck close, still not very comfortable around these people.

"Still clear up here!" Andrea yelled from her spot watching the front door of the clinic. Shane nodded.

"Alright, Donna. Grab everything you can fit in that bag. Don't worry about how heavy it is. I'll carry it." Shane said, handing a large bag to Donna and another to Michonne.

"Grab whatever she needs." He explained, stepping back. With a scowl, Michonne joined Donna at the shelves, grabbing every medication and piece of equipment that would be good for a birth and specifically a C-Section. Donna turned to give Michonne a small smile.

"Thanks for covering me the other day. I was sure Allen would find us." Donna said, throwing some bottles into the bag. Michonne shook her head.

"Don't. It won't happen again." Michonne said. Donna was quiet for a few seconds, staring at the wall.

"Do you think he knows?" Donna asked.

"I think he would kill Tyreese if he found out." Michonne explained simply. Behind them, Shane's ears perked up. He thought back to that time with Lori, on the ground in the forest.

_You too, huh?_ Shane thought, momentarily thinking of Tyreese and Donna together. He gave a wicked smile, feeling something close to amusement at something other than bloodshed for the first time in months.

"Take this, too." Andrea said, walking past them and placing a prosthetic leg in the bag. She looked Michonne in the eye.

"Thank you for all your help, guys." Andrea said. Shane folded his arms, eyes watching the front door carefully.

"Andrea." Shane said, but she was already walking back to guard the front door before he even finished saying her name.

* * *

"Have you seen Randall?" Rick asked, sitting down at a table. He had a map before him, but this time it was not a map of the county, but of Woodbury. Daryl shook his head.

"Not much, since we got here he's been running off with the Governor. Came back with all that military weaponry a couple weeks back." Daryl said, leaning back in his chair and smoking. He was relaxed, which was a nice change of pace after so long on the road.

"Making friends, I see." Rick said, not looking up from his map.

"Don't trust the Governor?" Daryl asked, watching the sunrise.

"I don't know yet. Do you?" Rick returned, looking up at Daryl.

"He saved me brother." Daryl replied simply, taking another long drag. Rick nodded in reply, seemingly deep in thought.

"Goin' out on a run, soon. Want to come?" Daryl asked, turning to look at Rick. The cop shook his head.

"I've got thangs to do, here." Rick said, nodding as if convincing himself. Daryl nodded, standing up and putting his cigarette out under his foot. He offered a hand for Rick to shake.

"Good, then. Glad you're staying busy." Daryl said. Rick grunted something in reply, shaking Daryl's hand and quickly returning to his map. Rick looked up as Daryl walked away.

"Where you headed?" Rick asked, having checked out a majority of the immediate area.

"Prison. 'Bout a mile or two from here." Daryl said. Daryl kept walking.

* * *

"Talk to me, Milton." The Governor said, taking a drag on a fine Cuban cigar that the group had found while scouting. He blew a wisp of smoke in Milton's face. The scientist coughed, expelling the smoke from his face. Milton laid out a map in front of the Governor, where a certain prison was marked in red.

"We've had men scout this place a few times, but there's always been a herd too close to it. Judging by my timetables, we should have a window over the next couple of weeks to scout the place out for supplies before the herds return." Milton explained. The Governor nodded, motioning for Milton to continue as he took another drag on his cigar.

"Well, given that Merle reported that the biters in the yard mostly had prison uniforms, it's my supposition that the place has been untouched by outside raiders." Milton said, a little bit more excited now.

"This place could have guns, bullet proof vests, beds, food. A lot of useful supplies for Woodbury." Milton explained, pointing his finger in the air as if he were a science teacher giving an exciting lesson on electrons. The Governor grunted in reply.

"We'll send a team." The Governor said.

* * *

"Shane. You wanted to see me?" Tyreese said, walking up next to Shane where he was perched atop a guard tower. He shoved the apprehensive fear deep into his subconscious, willing himself to trust this man.

"I know about Donna." Shane said, not bothering to look up from his sights. Tyreese let his mouth drop a little bit.

"Oh, damn man. I'm sorry. Listen, you can't tell Allen -" Tyreese began to explain himself.

"It's okay, man." Shane chuckled, for the first time in a while. He looked up from his sights.

"I did the same thing. My partner disappeared when this whole thing started. Lori and I got close, and..." Shane trailed off, rubbing his head.

"He came back?" Tyreese offered. Shane nodded.

"Didn't end well. But he's gone now." Shane said. Tyreese nodded, trying to process what he had just heard.

"Left with another group. Betrayed us all... Bastard." Shane added, feeling the need to justify himself. Tyreese nodded again, glad that Shane was not just admitting to murder.

"I just wanted to, uh, apologize for how I treated you and your group." Shane said awkwardly. Tyreese smiled.

"It's okay. I understand. You don't know us. I know it's hard to trust people these days. But we still gotta try." Tyreese said. Shane caught himself nodded, before slapping a hand on Tyreese's back.

"I found some wine in the clinic. It's not exactly Bud Light, but I was thinking we could have a little dinner together tonight. All of us." Shane said, walking back inside.

* * *

"Shane!?" Daryl said, starting to run towards the prison gate. Martinez gave a death glare to Merle, who was also nearby.

"Daryl!" Merle said, running after his brother and tackling him to the ground.

"We've got to report this back to the Governor." Martinez said.


	9. Iota

"Let her go!" Maggie yelled as the disgusting man wrapped an arm around Beth's throat. The light chuckles and the sound of a man fumbling with his belt were unnerving to her ears. In the corner of her eye she watched as another of the men grabbed Hershel around the waist and held the old man close. A hand reached for Maggie, causing her to swirl around and knock an attacker on his ass.

"Stay the hell back!" Maggie yelled, tears forming in her eyes as the situation became increasingly uncontrollable. She wielded her shotgun back and forth, keeping the rest of this gang of Marauders at a careful distance. Beth was crying, Hershel struggling heroically.

"Watcha gonna do now, old man?" The man holding Hershel in a bear hug asked. The old man didn't respond, sending his head launching forward and hitting the man in the face. Joe shook his head in response, blood falling down his forehead but otherwise still okay. He held onto Hershel.

"No!" Beth yelled as the gross fat man began pulling her pants down. Maggie's mind raced as she gave a dirty look to another asshole that came too close.

"If you rape her, I'll kill you where I stand!" Maggie yelled.

"You don't have the guts!" One of the Marauders said. Beth kept crying. Hershel began to whimper a little bit, too. Maggie saw red, red everywhere.

**BANG!**

A shotgun blast rang out, ripping Beth and her would-be rapist in two. Maggie didn't hesitate, swirling around and taking three more out with a single shotgun blast. Hershel made another thrust at Joe, this time going for the man's throat with his teeth. The Marauder didn't see it coming, and soon his jugular was sitting pretty in Hershel's teeth.

"Oh my god!" Maggie yelled, falling to her knees and dropping the shotgun at what she had just done. Hershel ran quickly over to her, putting a fatherly hand on her shoulder.

"Maggie." He attempted. She was balling.

"I couldn't let them do that to her. I couldn't let her live with that..." Maggie sobbed uncontrollably. There was a crackling sound, on the edge of the clearing.

"Woah there!" A red-headed man said as Hershel brought a shotgun to bear on the bulky man. The red-headed man looked at the ground, at the bodies strewn about. He let his gaze rest on the upper half of the pretty blonde before grunting something.

"Damn." Abraham said, turning to look up at Hershel and Maggie. Out of the forest behind him came two more - a fit Latina with a gun and a fat man with a greasy mullet.

"Stay the hell away from us!" Hershel said. Abraham held up his hands.

"My name's Abraham, and I've got a very important mission." He began.

* * *

It was sundown, a nice cool Spring evening when Rick was leaning back in his lawn chair sipping on an Arnold Palmer. He had gotten used to being a cop, but it was in fact even easier than being a cop in the old days were. The people of Woodbury didn't cause a lot of trouble, and at times Rick felt more responsible for the general safety of the city than actual cop work. He looked up at the sound of someone running.

"Rick! Come quick!" Karen rounded the corner, finding Rick in his favorite spot. Rick got up, not wasting any time.

"What's the matter?" He said, falling in next to Karen as she sprinted back across the small town.

"It's Merle and Martinez. They're fighting." Karen explained, motioning towards the small town bar. Rick grunted in reply, having dealt with Merle before. He slowed before the doors to the bar, walking in slowly. The bar was mostly quiet, except for the smacking sounds by the bar.

Martinez was leaned up against the bar, a black eye from Merle who was standing before him swaying drunkenly. They both looked extremely out of it. Rick didn't waste any time springing forward and hitting Merle in the back of the head, knocking the stupid redneck to the floor with one blow.

"Woahhhh now!" Martinez said, drunkenly lunging at Rick with a playful smile on his face. Rick dodged to the left, letting Martinez fall and hit his head on a nearby table. Rick reached down and used plastic handcuffs to 'apprehend' both Merle and Martinez.

"I'm not drunk!" Martinez exclaimed, face on the ground.

"Right." Rick said, hauling both men up and leading them a short walk down the street. This hadn't happened many times before, but there was still two cells in the town. Apparently only ever used as a drunk tank for times like these.

"Thanks for your help, Karen." Rick said as he shoved Merle into a cell and slammed the door shut behind him.

"Of course. Anything to help the town." Karen smiled at him, causing Rick to smile back as well. He put Martinez in a cell, and the other man slumped to the ground. Rick turned to leave.

"Want to get a drink?" Rick asked Karen. She contemplated it for a second.

"Might not be the best idea after these two." She replied, and they both chuckled. They stood quietly for a second, before Karen shifted.

"Well, I've got to go check on my son." Karen said, Rick grunted and turned to head back into the small cell room. Martinez was still sitting there, staring off into space while Merle was passed out snoring on the ground. Rick tapped on the cell bars.

"Hey. What was all that about?" Rick asked Martinez, who simply chuckled in reply.

"Heh. We saw someone he recognized today. I asked him if it was the cop that cut his hand off. Merle flipped his shit, and here we are." Martinez replied.

"You saw a cop?" Rick said, curious.

"Yeah, Daryl almost gave away our position trying to go say hi. Think his name was Shane?" Martinez said. Rick instantly felt cold, all thought leaving his mind and every bit of comfort that Woodbury had given him flooding out of his system. He had to talk to the Governor, now. Rick turned to leave.

"You're a good man, Rick." Martinez said, leaning back quietly in his cell. Rick grunted something in reply, looking away.

"Good men don't last long out here." Martinez finished. Rick nodded, walking out of the small cell block.


	10. Kappa

"Governor!" Rick yelled, walking into the Governor's office. The Governor looked up, raising up a hand. Rick didn't listen, walking past Milton and punching the Governor directly in the face. The Governor fell down, nose bloodied and Rick stood over him.

"You said they were dead!" Rick exclaimed. The Governor nodded, catching his breath. Milton backed up, not sure what to do.

"I said they were probably dead!" The Governor defended himself, wiping some blood off of his face. He smirked a little bit, as if he got off on the pain. Rick scowled.

"The Prison's been surrounded by a herd of biters for a while. They must have just sneaked in." Milton explained from the side. The Governor stood up, looking carefully at Rick. He set a glass on the table, a loud **CLANK** echoing through the room.

"Bourbon?" The Governor offered, motioning to a nearby table.

"They're at a prison!?" Rick asked, ignoring the Governor. The Governor simply shrugged, pouring a glass for himself and downing it. He poured a second glass, moving to a nearby table and sitting. He was joined by Milton.

"Daryl said they only saw one - a bald man he called Shane. There was another man with him, a black man that Daryl didn't recognize." Milton explained. Rick sighed, sitting down at the table.

"So it might not be your group at all. You said the farm they were staying at was overrun. Maybe you're partner was the only one that made it." The Governor offered, taking another sip of Bourbon. There was a light bruise forming on his face. Milton reached behind him, grabbing a paper that was rolled up against the wall. He laid it out flat on the table.

"This is a map of the Prison. From what Martinez told us it seems to be broken down on the south side - here - and full of walkers. But the northeast yard is clear. We're not sure how much of the area is actually safe." Milton explained. Rick tilted his head.

"You want to _invade_ the prison? Attack my friend?" Rick stared directly at Milton. The Governor down another Bourbon, letting the glass _CLINK _on the table again. The Governor sighed.

"Not at all. But we don't know these people, Rick. We've got to be prepared." The Governor said. Rick shook his head, remembering one of the last things that Lori told him -

_"He's dangerous, Rick."_ She had said, Rick sighed and looked up at the Governor.

"Let me talk to him." Rick said, glancing at the Prison layout.

"I don't know if that's a good idea." The Governor said cautiously. He stared at his empty glass. Milton looked between the two.

"It's always good to meet other communities. Makes the world more like it was." Milton said, smiling lightly. Both men grunted in return.

"Fine. I'll send Shumpert and Martinez with you." The Governor said.

"Why?" Rick asked.

"We don't want anything happening to our Sheriff out there." The Governor replied. Rick nodded slowly, suddenly remembering his job. Remembering the people of Woodbury. He sighed, standing up and grabbing some keys out of his pocket.

"I'll get Martinez out of lock-up." Rick said. Milton and the Governor looked at each other, equally alarmed and confused.

"Lock up?" Milton asked. Rick nodded.

"I'm using those two cells as a drunk tank for Merle and Martinez. They both got into it earlier. Scared some of the residents." Rick replied, standing in the doorway now.

"Well, I appreciate you doing that." The Governor replied, chuckling and nodding for Rick to go. Both Milton and the Governor waited a few minutes until Rick was gone.

"If these people are hostile, what kind of weaponry would they have at their disposal?" The Governor asked, continuing the conversation they were having before Rick arrived.

"According the my records of the prison, they should have riot gear, bullet proof vests, and some pretty heavy weaponry all from the prison's armory... Plus anything they picked up while traveling the road." Milton explained. The Governor pointed at the south side of the map.

"Daryl said this part was down - would we be able to send a team through there?" The Governor asked.

"Not likely, seems like the place is full of walkers. And if this group has keys to the prison - which I assume they do - then they could have possibly locked the doors to that section." Milton explained. The Governor nodded, leaning back and thinking.

"So the front gate is our only option?" The Governor asked. Milton nodded.

"With all that military weaponry you salvaged recently, we should be pretty well stocked in case we need to do anything. Plus there's the walker truck idea..." Milton trailed over. The Governor shook his head, scowling.

"I told you that idea was ridiculous. We're not risking it." The Governor replied. Milton nodded, conceding the point.

"Do you think Rick can negotiate with them?" Milton asked. The Governor was silent, standing up slowly and walking over to his desk. He poured another glass of bourbon.

"We both know he can't." The Governor said, down another glass.

* * *

"Rick!" Daryl yelled, running down the street to catch up to Woodbury's Sheriff. Rick gave him a sideways look.

"Did you hear? I saw Shane, at a prison!" Daryl explained. Rick nodded, pulling some keys out of his pocket and walking into a building Daryl had never seen before. He followed him in, surprised to see both Martinez and his brother locked behind bars.

"Merle?" Daryl said, walking over to the cell. The bald red-neck shook the cell door.

"Get me out of here, brother!" Merle exclaimed. Martinez was quiet, sitting in his cell ruminating. Rick unlocked Martinez's cell.

"We're going out on a run." Rick explained. Martinez stared at him for a second, before standing up and walking calmly out of his cell.

"Yes, sir." Martinez said. Daryl looked back and forth between Rick and his brother.

"Uh... Rick?" Daryl asked. Rick simply tossed him the keys to Merle's cell, walking to the door.

"Need back up?" Daryl asked, unlocking Merle's cell and turning around to face Rick.

"Hey now, this asshole just locked me up!" Merle exclaimed.

"Shut up!" Rick and Daryl replied to him in unison.


	11. Lambda

Author's Note: So, this is the scene that I was imagining when I first came up with this idea. It's good to finally get here. I've since come up with a whole 'nother slew of ideas that I can't wait to show you guys. Reviews are nice. Here we go!

* * *

"Shane!"

I thought I would never hear that voice again. I _prayed_ that I would never hear it again. Thinking I was insane, I whipped my head around. My shotgun pulled up to the sound like an extension of my arm, the sights settling on the man who haunted my nightmares - Rick fucking Grimes.

"Rick!?" I asked, stepping toward the illusion at the outer fence. With a nod of my head Andrea was laying down with her sniper in the watchtower, while Tyreese stood quietly at the inner fence. There was movement behind Rick, and a Hispanic man walked out of the woods.

"Woah, hold up!" I yelled, bringing the sights up again. Rick held up his hands, gun loose in his hands to show that he wasn't planning on shooting me.

_I don't buy it for one second_.

"Shane, it's me! It's your friend." Rick said as I got near to the fence. There was still two fences and the area between them between us, but we were pretty close. I let my gun down a little bit.

"My friend!?" I chuckled, surprised at his audaciousness. I rubbed my head, putting a hand on my waist. Rick watched closely.

"Rick. You've been gone for six months." I explained since he didn't seem to understand. Rick tried to began explaining himself.

"Six months!" I cut him off. Rick was quiet for a moment, nodding.

"I know, I know." Rick said, looking off in the distance. The hispanic man stayed a little behind Rick, I thought I saw more movement in the forest. I'm glad that Andrea's watching my back with that sniper.

"Where's Lori and Carl?" He asked, finally getting to the point. Getting to what he wanted to take from me. I stared at him for a few seconds, weighing my choices.

_I can't risk you screwing everything up again, Rick_.

"They're fucking dead!" I yelled at him. Rick's eyes went wide. I tried not to smile.

"What?" He said, quietly. He started to sink to his knees, head falling into his hands. The Hispanic guy looked between us awkwardly, his gun held down and loose in his hands but still there. Looks like Rick made some new friends.

Rick began to sob. I wasn't satisfied, yet.

"You couldn't keep them safe!" I yelled at him.

"I was a better father than you! A better husband than you!" I yelled, laying it on him.

Rick raised his head from his hands, fire in his eyes. I could see it, burning in there. I smiled.

"NO!" Rick yelled, whipping out his gun. I didn't see it coming, and before I knew it two shots rang through the air and my ass was on the ground. I lifted my head slightly, feeling a sharp pain in my chest and peaking to see that Rick was being dragged back into the forest by the Hispanic man. A second shot rang out, hitting the Hispanic man in the leg. That must have been Andrea.

"Oohh, shit!" I grunted as Tyreese's large hands planted themselves on my shoulder's hefting my body away from the fence. I blacked out.

* * *

"Damn! Blondie's gotten good with a gun!" Merle chuckled, looking through his own sniper scope.

"Let me see!" Randall whined, standing next to Merle. Merle used his metal hand to push the dumb kid away.

"Are they coming out?" The Governor asked, standing behind Merle.

"Yep." Merle said, watching as most of the new residents of the prison ran out into the open.

"Do you see the wife?" The Governor asked, his voice even. Merle paused, taking his eyes off of the scope and looking at the Governor.

"Do you see her?" The Governor repeated himself, monotone. Randall looked back and forth between the two. Merle looked back through the scope. Everyone was heading back inside, it looked like Andrea was motioning to all of them. Lori disappeared back inside the prison before Merle could get a good angle.

"Damn. Blondie sent them all back in." Merle said.

"She's smart." The Governor replied.

"She's hot." Randall added. Merle and the Governor both turned to look at him. Merle shrugged.

"True." He replied, turning to look back through the scope. The gates were locked up, and everyone was back inside.

"Wait here." The Governor said.

"Huh?" Merle replied, incredulous.

"The first chance you get, you kill her. We can't have this spiraling out of control. We need Rick on our side." The Governor replied, staring at the prison. Merle's mouth was open slightly.

"You're a cold operator, Governor." Merle replied. The Governor didn't respond, still giving that cold look to the prison.

"Randall will run back and forth for supplies, spot you, keep watch while you sleep. Can you do that, Randall?" The Governor said, finally turning from the Prison to look at Randall. Randall nodded quickly, eager to please. The Governor placed a hand on his shoulder, frightening the boy.

"Good man. Come back to me as soon as the jobs done. Tell no one." The Governor emphasized these last words, before walking to the edge of the platform on the tree and beginning the climb down.

"Damn!" Randall said, watching the leader of Woodbury go. Merle nodded quietly, looking back through the scope.

* * *

_"No!" Otis yelled, falling to the ground except for a hand gripping furiously on Shane's hair. The fat man pulled all his weight on the hair, ripping it out of Shane's head. He ignored the pain, limping onward as Otis fell to the ground. _

"Shane?"

_The fat man screamed as the zombies ripped into him. _

"Shane!" A voice yelled. Shane's vision cleared to the vision of his angel, the redheaded wife of his best friend. But that was then, and this was now. Lori shook Shane awake.

"You saw Rick!?" She asked, standing over him. Shane reached his hand out, trying to brush the hair out of her face. Lori slapped it away, fury in her eyes as she stormed out of the cell.

"I can't _believe_ him!" Lori screamed, walking out of Shane's cell into the open Cell Block.

"Lori, I saw him. I saw Rick." Andrea stepped forward from a small group that had just been discussing. Lori stepped over to Andrea, they had their differences in the past, but months surviving on the road together had given the two women a healthy respect for each other.

"I saw Rick, and he shot at Shane." Andrea told the group, all gathered around.

"Rick would never do that!" Lori replied.

"It's true, I saw him do it with my own eyes. If Andrea hadn't shot him, Shane would have died." Tyreese replied. Lori turned back to Andrea.

"You _shot_ my husband!?" Lori asked incredulously.

"He shot Shane _first_!" Andrea replied. Lori shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. She turned around, head spinning. Carl watched quietly from his cell as Lori walked out of the Cell Block, tears in her eyes.

That was the last time he saw his mother.


	12. Chapter 12

"LORI!" Shane yelled at the top of his lungs, looking around madly as he stood over the prone form of Lori's body. It was notably headless.

"Tyreese." Andrea nodded to the big black man, who shook his head and ran outside with her. Andrea ran up to Shane.

"Shane." She pleaded quietly. If there was a sniper out there, they needed to be inside NOW. Shane ignored her.

"It was Rick! He knew he couldn't have her, so he killed her! He killed her just to hurt me!" Shane yelled, practically spinning in circles.

"Rick would _never_ do that!" Dale offered from his place in the crowd gathered at the door. Shane whirled around, fire in his eyes as he reached for the gun on his hip.

A gunshot rang through the air, and there was a distinct **THUD** as a body hit the ground. Tyreese looked over at Andrea.

"Whew!" She breathed out, glancing at the bloodstain on the butt of her gun. She looked down at Shane, knocked out on the ground and she sighed.

"Lets drag him in." She mumbled. After a few moments Shane was on a bed in a cell while Andrea and Tyreese dragged Lori's body into the Prison Block.

"Oh my god." Carol offered as Carl came running out from his cell.

"Mom!?" He yelled in distress over and over. Carol grabbed him and prevented him from running to her dead body. She couldn't help but be reminded of when Daryl held her from Sophia.

"I think we should leave them to this." Sasha said, standing next to Tyreese. He simply stood there, staring at the crying boy for a few seconds.

"Ty?" She asked. He shook his head, as if out of a trance.

"Yeah, let's go." He said sadly, turning to leave with his sister.

"Tyreese! Get Donna!" Came the voice of Dale as he looked up from Lori's dead body - there was water, yes _water_ forming a pool around her waist.

Eyes raised, the two siblings sprinted across the yard to their own cell block. Once inside, they found Allen, Donna, and Ben all sitting around a fire while Michonne stood guard at the door. She looked worried.

"I heard gunfire, what's going on!?" She asked the two.

"Donna! It's happening!" Tyreese said, running over to Donna and picking her up. He sprinted out of the cell block quickly.

"What the hell just happened!?" Allen stood up, angry. He headed towards the door, but Sasha held up her hand to stop him.

"There's a sniper out there. Lori got shot, but it looks like her water broke." Sasha explained.

"And he just ran my wife out there with snipers!?" Allen said. Sasha shrugged.

"He carried her. Besides, we would have heard gunfire if they had been shot at." She replied. Allen shook his head, turning away.

"The baby's coming?" Michonne asked, carefully. Sasha nodded, and a moment of quiet passed between them.

"What about the sniper?" She asked. Sasha shook her head.

"Still out there, I guess." Sasha said. Michonne gave her trademark scowl.

"Well, someone's got to do something about that."

* * *

"Does it look like they're following us?" Merle asked, pushing his way through some brush. He and Randall were almost back to their car. Randall looked back at the prison.

"Nope!" Randall offered, excitedly.

"Hey man, that was a great shot, by the way! Nailed that bitch right in the head!" Randall said, smiling. Merle nodded grimly, opening the brush to where their car was he turned back to Randall with a smile on his face.

"Looks like we got out of there scot-free, kid!" Merle said. But Randall wasn't smiling, he raised a careful finger.

"Look out!" Randall offered. Merle only had a few seconds to react, spinning around and bringing his metal knife arm up just in time to block the careful swing of a katana. His eyes followed the blade to the end, where a scowling black woman held it.

There wasn't a chance for witty dialogue as Michonne brought another sword swipe to Merle, who deflected it once more with his metal arm and rolled away to pull out his pistol. For his part, Randall turned tail and attempted to abandon Merle. Unfortunately for Randall he ran face first into a riot shield. T-Dog pushed back, sending Randall back first into the dirt.

"Why you dirty-!" Merle yelled, pulling out his pistol to shoot Michonne. She used her sword to knock it out of his hand just as he shot it. The bullet flew harmlessly into the distance. A follow up blow once again connected with Merle's knife arm.

Randall had better luck, pulling his gun out and firing off three rounds at T-Dog. All three ricocheted off of his shield, landing into the dirt.

"You can't be that stupid." T-Dog said. Randall had barely gotten back to his feet when Glenn tackled him to the ground, punching him directly in the face.

"You!" Glenn recognized Randall from the farm, punching him a second time in the face as T-Dog kicked Randall's gun away.

"Ah!" Merle yelled from the other side of the brush as Michonne gave him a quick, careful stab the chest. Her leg flew out, kicking Merle to his back.

"Nothing vital. Little shit's like you deserve to die _slow_." Michonne said, scowling at Merle. Meanwhile Glenn and T-Dog came out of the brush, hands raised into the air.

"Hands in the air, or I kill your friends!" A voice called through the brush. Michonne looked back and forth, but she could not identify the source of the voice. Surely that scrawny kid hadn't got the better of T-Dog and Glenn?

"Ahhh! She's killing me!" Merle yelled as Michonne pushed her sword into his side, slowly pushing it through his entire body.

Glenn dove to the ground as a shotgun blast **BOOM**ed behind him, sending a yelling T-Dog to the ground. Within seconds the fast young Asian man had disappeared into the forest as a man in a life preserver stepped out into the open with his shotgun.

"You kill him and you die." The Governor said, he turned his head to the side, where a bloodied Randall stepped out of the forest.

"Kill the boy before he gets back!" The Governor said, sending the red-faced Randall back into the forest.

"Well?" The Governor motioned to Michonne, who slowly took her hand off of her sword. It was still embedded in Merle, unmoving. The redneck whimpered quietly on the ground.

"Both of you, in the truck!"

* * *

"We've got to lock him up." Dale said, standing next to Andrea as she stood at the edge of Shane's cell, turning her gun over and over in her hand. There was still blood on the handle.

"Dale - " She began to disagree, but she stopped herself. She had seen what Shane did to those prisoners. Hell, Glenn had seen it, too. Gunned them down without a second's thought. She imagined what would have happened if she hadn't knocked him out - she imagined the entire group getting gunned down.

"He's dangerous, and you and I both know that." Dale said, giving Andrea his trademark look. She sighed, slowly nodding.

"Just until it's safe." She said, stepped back and closing the door quietly. She locked it, using Shane's keys that she had taken from his pocket. Dale placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It will be okay. You're in charge, now." Dale said, smiling. In the distance the cries of a little baby rang out, echoing throughout the Cell Block. And for some reason, it made Andrea's blood go cold.

* * *

Author's Note:

So I was going to hold this thing ransom until I got some reviews, because I'm a review whore. But I like writing this more than I care if people like it. As long as the muse comes I'll keep doing this.


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